During his pregame press conference, he declared that this weekend, when the Premier League returns, Reece James will once more start and captain the team.

Chelsea supporters will be hopeful that their team continues where it left off prior to the season’s latest break for international games.

They won four points and scored eight goals against Manchester City and Tottenham in the two games they played before the break.

Several players performed well in those games; Cole Palmer and Raheem Sterling stood out in especially.

But it’s safe to conclude that the Blues have improved since James returned to the starting lineup, as seen by the improvement in play over that period.

James will start against Newcastle

When questioned if James was ready to play 90 minutes yet, Pochettino confirmed that James would be among those starting at St. James’ Park tomorrow, even though he was keen to keep things under wraps.

“We’ll see” (whether he can play for ninety minutes), he said. He’s performing admirably and at a very high caliber. You now know that there will be one participant.

James has not been risked by Pochettino for ninety minutes since his return from injury, as everyone is eager for him to avoid being hurt again.

Malo Gusto has benefited from this by being able to continue playing off the bench after having a run of starts for the most of the current season.

Although he was apparently hurt prior to the start of the international break, he has been seen in training without any knee braces, which should indicate that he is also totally recovered.